Shanghai aims to boost smart manufacturing

In a bid to reinvigorate its manufacturing sector, the Shanghai municipal government announced an action plan on Tuesday to transform and upgrade its physical economy for quality development in the coming three years.

According to the plan, technological upgrade investment in Shanghai will reach 69 billion yuan ($10.96 billion) in 2018, covering intelligent manufacturing, new energy vehicles and intelligent network connected automobiles, civil aviation and new generation information technology.

The plan aims to make Shanghai's manufacturing more intelligent, high-end, concentrated and clustered, service-oriented, premium, and environmentally friendly. By 2020, Shanghai plans to establish 100 demonstration projects in each of the six sectors, and to promote 5,000 sizable technological reform projects.

"In this year alone, the city will launch 200 pilot projects in various sectors and kick-start 1,700 sizable technological reforms," said Chen Mingbo, director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

According to Wu Qing, vice-mayor of Shanghai, the city must develop its industries and manufacturing as it has laid a solid foundation for its physical economy.

"Shanghai's strength lies in research and development, equipment, management, production, skilled workers, market environment, location, trade and shipping, which as a whole guarantee the future form of Shanghai as a global metropolis different from New York, London or Tokyo," Wu said.

Shanghai was an important birthplace of China's domestic industry in modern times, and created numerous Chinese brands known for classic quality products.

Technological upgrade investment accounted for 61 percent of the city's total industrial investment last year, up from 47 percent in 2008, becoming a key driver for Shanghai's industrial restructuring and upgrade.

Driven by 14.5 billion yuan in financial support from the government, a total of 232.1 billion yuan has been invested in 1,496 technological upgrades between 2009 and 2017, among which a 62.9 billion yuan investment was made last year alone, up 7.1 percent year-on-year.

Shanghai's reputation for manufacturing can only be maintained through consistent research and development, technological upgrades and investment, Wu said.